[COVID-19 Pandemic]

I haven’t panic bought anything yet but have stocked up on cat litter, mainly because I’m always at the end of the bag before I order more.  However, for me any urge to start thinking about panic buying, in pure response I have to say to what I am seeing going on with regard to this, is driven by these questions. 

(1) do we have any idea when we will be put into lockdown?

(2) what does lockdown actually mean and entail - will we be told to stop in doors literally like a curfew or is local travel within the immediate neighbourhood permitted?  I hope so as I sometimes have to go and fetch one of naughty cats back from his favourite haunt.  

(3) how long are we likely to be in lockdown so to speak - 2 or 3 weeks or potentially longer 

(4)  will all shops close down or will supermarket home deliveries continue as long as shopping can be left outside and direct contact between delivery man and customer avoided?

Any views or knowledge on this?

[COVID-19 Pandemic]

3 minutes ago, Ross90 said:

There are a lot of them under the same name...

 

On another note why does the thread continue to degenerate into tit for tat, political points scoring etc, it'll just end up being locked like the last one was.  

Very important post.  Why risk having the thread closed for good?  The thread has and continues to be such a valuable source of information for people.

[COVID-19 Pandemic]

5 minutes ago, Paul Faulkner said:

Whilst some people may be praising China for the way in which they contained the outbreak, let's not forget how this started and how badly citizens were treated during lockdown.

This videos shows authorities literally shoveling what looks like cabbage out of a truck to trapped residents

Good news is that the south China food market in Hankoi, Wuhan is having all of its contents removed and will be destroyed although I'm sure there are hundreds of other markets that will continue the sale of wild and domestic animals for consumption.

well, one would hope the WHO and other world leaders, once the world has got through this catastrophe and undertaken some sort of root cause analysis, should be having some very serious conversations with China and how the regime there intends to ensure these markets are ALL closed and never re-open.  I would go so far as to say the international community needs a task force to monitor compliance as well.  

[COVID-19 Pandemic]

30 minutes ago, Weather-history said:

We are the most advanced life form that has ever existed on this planet but how quick we are brought to our knees by something so tiny  and seemingly powerless to stop.

Whilst I really do admire your view of the human race, I can’t help but wonder, given the possible source of this virus outbreak, whether the human race can sometimes be rather stupid at times.  I guess the scientific post mortem on the source of the viral outbreak will reveal all.....  

[COVID-19 Pandemic]

53 minutes ago, snow raven said:

I work for the NHS, I'd say he has put patients at risk of infection simply by travelling on the train wearing his uniform.  Hopefully he will change into a clean uniform when he gets to work.

Absolutely.  As an ex NHS and private health worker, that was my exact thought! Hope he puts a clean uniform on.  I can remember when laundry for nurses uniforms was done within hospitals and they changed in and out of uniforms when they came into and before they left the hospital.   

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

4 minutes ago, Astral Goat Juice said:

What kind of BS bureaucratic decision was that? Disgusting. 

It's possible he got so bad he couldn't speak, but that's not what the quote says. 

How upsetting, surely they could have dressed the next of kin up in appropriate hazmat equipment when they knew death was imminent.

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

7 minutes ago, Summer Sun said:

As was posted earlier EU rules mean 80% had to keep on flying (even if empty) to maintain the landing slots.

What a senseless rule flying empty planes, how does that help the environment!  Perhaps they’ll do the sensible thing after the virus has receded and not insist empty planes fly around.  

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

20 minutes ago, SnowBear said:

A convalescent hospital? A half way house? Used to have those once upon a time. Usually in lovely grounds with lawns and trees. 

Yes, exactly that, facilities in the community (like the old cottage/rehab hospitals) where patients can be “stepped up” to observe/treat accordingly or patients can be “stepped down” as a half way house to getting them home sensibly and appropriately.  They experimented with this in Sandwell again some years ago and I think it worked well.  The big issue is the acute units are always knocking at the door trying to offload their cases into these beds and sometimes inappropriately so managing the case load into these intermediate care facilities has to be done carefully.         

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

59 minutes ago, knocker said:

I do not post in this thread for two reasons.

1, I don’t know enough about the subject so my comments would be worthless

2 The ban on the political dimension means that it cannot be discussed properly to the relevant depth and detail

What I mean by this can be sunned up by the following extract from an article by Rachel Sylvester in Today’s Times

 The Covid-19 outbreak is another reminder that the divide between the health and social care systems is not only artificial, it is counterproductive. With elderly people more vulnerable to the disease, the pressure on hospitals is sure to grow but what could turn difficulty into disaster is the lack of social care for those who are well enough to go home.

Already NHS wards are full of elderly patients who have no medical need to be in hospital. More than 148,000 bed days were lost in December alone as a result of delayed discharges. There has also been a 35 per cent rise in the number of dementia patients turning up at accident and emergency departments over the past five years following day care centre closures.

The system is driven by perverse incentives. It costs about £250 a day for someone to be on a hospital ward and £100 for a domiciliary care package, so from the point of view of the NHS (and the taxpayer) it makes sense for elderly people to go home quickly — but councils, which are responsible for funding social care, have a financial motive to transfer the cost to hospitals. Although health funding has been ring-fenced, local authorities face a shortfall of almost £4 billion by 2025 in social care budgets.

According to Age UK, 1.5 million elderly people are not getting the care and support they need. More than 1,600 residential and nursing homes have closed in the past five years and the government’s post-Brexit immigration policy, which includes a minimum salary threshold, will only make matters worse. There are already 122,000 vacancies in the sector and one in 11 care workers is from the EU.

I realise this post will be removed tout suite

Absolutely spot on.  For my sins when I worked in commissioning I sat in on the DTOC (delayed transfers of care) weekly meetings.  The stress between the acute hospital discharge team and social services was so palpable and at times was in  danger of blowing up into massive rows over this issue  - considerable control often needed to be adopted.  Admissions queuing at the front door but the back door out of the hospital very inactive simply because there is nowhere to put those medically/clinically fit enough to be discharged but not safe enough mobility wise or safe enough mentally to go home.  That was 7 years ago and still the problem doesn’t seem to have been sorted.   If this virus does take off the bed and discharge situation will get much worse.  What we desperately need in this country (in my view) is a programme of creating intermediate care facilities - step up or step down beds in the community and specialist community elderly mentally ill places.  Please don’t blame the elderly though, they have put their considerable bit “into the pot” down the years so deserve to be well looked after in their declining years.                     

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

8 minutes ago, weirpig said:

Great   better not be here 

Local farcebook talk is patient from WV11 area but that might be being confused with the fact New Cross Hospital is where they are, which is roughly same area.  

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

Not sure where in the city but Wolverhampton has its first confirmed case of Coronavirus announced today

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

47 minutes ago, Ryukai said:

 

It's an anti-malarial and also used to treat auto-immune diseases such as arthritis and lupus as it act's as an immuno-suppressant.  So if you do get some DON'T use it straight off the bat, this is being used in severe cases where the immune system itself starts to go into a cytokine storm to try and bring it back under control. 

The very last thing you want to do is to hamper your immune system whilst it's working correctly....

I take antimalarial in the form of hydroxycloroquine (Quinoric) for autoimmune disease.  I asked my GP if I could increase the dose if my symptoms are troublesome but he did actually say no to that.  

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

How to make hand sanitizer

WWW.MNN.COM

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The threat of coronavirus has made it hard to find at stores.

This recipe is doing the rounds locally..

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

48 minutes ago, SteveB said:

It's lost on me why this is a big issue.

While people have died from COVID-19, it is the old and weak. If fit young people were dying, then yes, we have an issue.

TB kills 40,000 a day! and there is a cure

 

Bit of a poor way of looking at humanity there, nothing like having a bit of compassion.  I sincerely hope an elderly feeble relative or friend of yours doesn’t become infected.  My mums neighbour is 95ish and, as a veteran of Monty’s African army during WW2, as an oldie I do believe he deserves a bit more respect!!!

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

17 minutes ago, Bristle boy said:

Probably wouldnt make much difference today, as at this time, markets are in freefall again, after semi-recovery this week. Dead cat bounce mark 1 happened this week.

Can they not suspend trading on the stock market in view of this continual free fall?  If so, why haven’t they done it?  

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

7 minutes ago, ciel said:

 

On two picky notes, the omnipresent official advice on hand washing has not emphasised the importance of washing under rings and wrist-watches, and also what do you do with a tissue if you cough/sneeze into a tissue  in a supermarket, public transport, theatre etc.

 

Mum picked up on this the other day.  She was watching an expert on TV explaining the importance of hand washing, however, they didn’t actually go through the phases/movements you are shown to do as part of infection control within the NHS.  I actually had the infection control nurse stand over me while I demonstrated the hand washing procedure at the Nuffield before she signed me off as having completed my infection control training.  Rings do need particular attention and infection control nurses went to great lengths to hi-light how gel and acrylic nail extensions can hold dirt and potential germs as well.

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

28 minutes ago, Gray-Wolf said:

Will you act differently when You know it's in your area may I ask?

Wouldn't that be a tad late if it could have been spreading up to two weeks beforehand?

Why not 'pretend' it's all around you now and get a jump on the little blighter?

Yes, I can see that entirely, however, mum is resisting my attempts to curtail her, lol.    I’ve taken her out this afternoon to the garden centre - I have no idea whether anyone we came into contact with has this or another virus.  However, because there are no actual reported cases around these parts I was comfortable enough being out and I had no basis for being over protective of her and not supporting her in what she wanted to do.  If I know the virus has arrived locally I can (with difficulty I assure you ) insist she stays in the house.  For me personally I would like to know if it is local as I can make decisions for me where I go as I will need to go out at times (vet visits etc).  I need to try and stay clear of any virus for that matter if at all possible as mum depends on me for an awful lot of stuff and who would look after 6 of my own cats and 2 foster cats lord only knows ..... I can keel over as long as someone sees to the cats !!  

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

2 minutes ago, emax said:

But they aren't hiding locations, they're just giving a roundup at the end of the week, rather than updating once or twice a day. If a town has a confirmed case, unless that person doesnt go out much, then you'll never trace every contact, its just not possible. As I say, people who are that concerned about going outside their house, shouldn't be going out whether theres confirmed cases or not, as at this stage, with cases jumping so quickly, it makes no difference whatsoever. Cases are 2 days old at least anyway, plus however long they where shedding it for, so waiting a couple more days makes no odds, if it means resources can be directed into something more useful.

I do understand and accept your take on this but I think we should be informed more frequently of locations, just my own preference I guess.  

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

5 minutes ago, nick sussex said:

I think the UK government has done quite well so far but I’m not sure about this new policy of not disclosing locations .

Some might argue that by giving locations you can make people complacent in areas which haven’t had confirmed cases . 

On the other hand you need to keep the public onside and really need to be as transparent as possible .

Personally I like to know where cases are popping up , and especially if there are areas with a cluster of cases .

There are four regions of France at the moment which have the vast majority of cases and I won’t be going there anytime soon! 

 

I agree wholeheartedly.  For me it is nothing about being complacent, it is simply about having all the available information on locations from when you can make informed decisions about where you go.  Like a lot of people I have an elderly mum (88 this year).  She is very active wanting to do her own supermarket shopping and visit garden centres etc but if there are confirmed cases locally then I would be really looking at curtailing these type of excursions for both of us.   

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

5 minutes ago, Snipper said:

Make your own sanitiser

Coronavirus: How to make your own hand sanitizer and cleaning wipes

APPLE.NEWS

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Washing your hands frequently and thoroughly is the best way to protect yourself against the novel coronavirus. When you can't access warm water and soap, hand sanitizer is the next best...

 

I studied essential oils as part of an aromatherapy degree 20 years ago. I worked in the hospital at the time and consultants eventually talked me out of the aromatherapy course into doing what they called a ”proper degree”.  However, as the years have passed essential oils are increasingly being shown to have antibacterial and antiviral properties.  I always have a supply of oils to use in and around the house for various things so will be getting them out the cupboard and mixing some up as air sprays.  They can also be mixed into carrier oils and creams.   

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5206475/

 

 

 

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

46 minutes ago, Spikecollie said:

Yes, it did seem a bit "right hand doesn't know what the left is doing" but you're right, there are probably many doctors and nurses who have retired before 60 and anyway, 60 is just a number. Surely your state of health is much more important than your age. There are 60-70 year olds who are healthier than some 30-40 year olds.

I have not read any details but if retired doctors have let their medical licence lapse and/or their revalidation is not up to date I’m not sure how they can be bought back into practice, unless revalidation etc was fast tracked somehow. 

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

39 minutes ago, Spikecollie said:

I agree. I'm just going to keep going on as normal, keeping fit and well and enjoying life. In the absence of OH Mylo now sleeps beside me at night and it is so comforting - who else sleeps with their dog, or is this another thread?!

I almost always have 4 of my 6 cats sleeping with me, often wake up on the edge of the bed with about 6” of it left.  Always take my 20 year old one with me and the others follow on when they realise I’ve gone to bed. 

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

11 minutes ago, General Cluster said:

I know precisely how serious COVID-19 is likely to be, as I'm one of those who're more susceptible than most. Age matters!

That said, I think I'd rather shuffle off this mortal coil with my sense-of-humour still intact, than spend my last, say 6-months or 25-years, in a constant state of 'doomsday readiness'...Is life not too short as it is?

Absolutely completely and utterly agree with you.  Life is serious and hard enough.    However, I am so glad my parents instilled a sense of humour in me and I still retain it!  I cannot image going through day to day life without it.   

[If you had to lose one of the following weathers....]

Scorching sun would be my choice.  I always find exceptionally hot sunny weather oppressive and it is often difficult to escape the overwhelming heat, whereas, if it is cold and snowy you can put additional layers on and get the fire going to keep warm.  

[Novel Coronavirus – China]

15 minutes ago, General Cluster said:

Blimey, SC --- I did too; but as a part of my OU Degree, and was about prion proteins (nvCJD) as well as AIDS...

But I am, I freely admit, a bit of a dilettante. So 'expert' I am not!

I did it as a part time student as well while keeping a full time job going.  I was 39 when I started to study and it took me 6 long years.  I worked in the hospitals as a medical secretary and the consultant clinical director of surgery ...  in his own words...”didn’t want his medical secretaries going off chasing further education”.  So, he allowed me to pursue my studies as long as I could demonstrate I could work my normal hours outside my study and keep a handle on my work responsibilities - I think he thought I wouldn’t cope with it - he was very wrong.   It was real hard work at times and I think it really did fry my brain in the end but I did manage a 2:1.  It enabled me to move on and upwards getting better paid jobs within the NHS.  One of my projects was work around CJD.